Pitch's Game
by Xenon Z
Summary: What if Pitch's whole plot against the guardians was just a prank? What if he invited Jack in on the joke? Mostly Crack, though does get serious.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Everyone! My first story on this site is here! :) Just want you all to know that as of right now, I don't have a beta, so i'm kind of just writing on the fly. Pointing out any mistakes you find would be helpful! **

**No warning for now, unless references to talking to inanimate objects upsets you. Though I warn you- there's probably going to be slash later on in this- rating may change if I decide to be daring. **

**Anyway, This was just a little plot bunny that refused to hop away. Pestering little buggers, those things. This is slightly AU, where if Pitch were a little less evil and, perhaps, if Jack were a little more on the dark side of morally grey. A little slow to start, but it'll get better. Promise. ;p**

**Let's get on with it! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own these people. Unfortunately. If I did, I'd be very lucky. And a man.**

* * *

"_I wouldn't follow it, if I were you."_

He spun around.

Jack must have still been brooding over a certain sledding incident from earlier that day, as he hadn't heard anything before a voice had practically whispered in his ear. While it was true that the almost-albino had a knack for getting distracted, (He hadn't just been about to chase after some random shadows for nothing.) he still prided himself in at least knowing whether or not he was alone. He liked to think he was perfectly capable of being able to tell if there was another soul near him- centuries of being alone tended to make one acute to such things.

Though, since most of the souls around him completely disregarded his existence, he supposed his "who's alive" senses had dulled considerably.

Which is what made the voice even more interesting. The kind of interesting that hadn't happened since the blizzard of '68.

He smiled.

His staff was pointed half defensively- half curiously at the man in front of him, half visible in the light of the street lamps. He was like a tall, thin shadow- smirking darkly down at him.

Jack wondered if he should be weary of this man. The wind didn't seem to like the stranger- it rustled through his hair, as if warning him to be careful. He brushed it off. Though, there was something almost uncanny in his presence, something just a little off about his smile. And he was tall. _Really _tall.

_Dag nab it. _He thought. _Why is everyone so tall?_

But- as he glanced up and down the street, finding it empty- he realized that the man had really been speaking to _him. _Jack Frost, who hadn't had a real civil, two way conversation since the before-mentioned blizzard- if he didn't count the angry and non-repeatable shouts he received from other seasonal sprites when he made torrents of snow suddenly drop on their heads. This stranger was no puny sprite, though. This stranger could _see _him, and had actually taken the time to _speak _with him.

Unless, of course, he was one of those "special" mortals he sometimes came across. The ones who were trying to have deep, meaningful conversations with trashcans or brick walls. The ones who clumsily kicked their chosen inanimate object when it refused to respond.

However, as he stepped more into the light, he saw that his company's skin was a charcoal grey. His eyes were piercing right through him.

_So unless he's some really faithful chimney sweep, he's probably not mortal._

It had been a while since he'd been able to bother another spirit.

"Really? Care to explain why I shouldn't?" Jack called out, cocking his head challengingly, "Cause if I didn't find anything interesting here, I was just going to fly off back to Moscow for the night."

As a rule, everything was more interesting in Russia.

If possible, the smirk on the other seemed to grow darker, "Oh, don't worry. I think what I have to say will be _very _interesting for you."

"Really? Cause, no offense, but most of the interesting people I've met before were dressed a lot more interesting than you. All black's a little dull, don't you think?"

Jack dropped his guard a little, drawing his staff back in to lean on it. He offered the other a teasing smile.

The man ignored his comment, instead jumping right to the point, "Are you on good terms with the guardians?"

Jack's smile dropped.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm sure they've got more... _colorful _words to say about me. But I'm more of a-"

"Neutral party?" The man looked particularly ecstatic then. He stepped forward. Jack fromned, and stepped back- starting to raise his staff again.

The other spirit let out a chuckle, "Well, I have no shame in saying I, personally, am not a fan of them. All their talk of joy and hope and all that mushy stuff," He sighed, making a dismissive gesture, as if he wanted to brush the 'mushy stuff' off his shoulders, " It all really _grates_ at my insides. I'm sure you'd say the same- that is, if they actually bothered to acknowledge you."

Jack was quickly growing uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. The stranger was getting a little too close for comfort, just a few feet away. As the shady man moved to step closer, Jack raised his staff quickly, jabbing threateningly at the other's chest.

"Would you like to play a game?"

The winter spirit looked up, staff lowering slightly,"What?"

"I said, would you like to play a game, with me?" The spirit held his arms out, invitingly. He began pacing around the boy, and Jack's staff followed him,"Just a little prank, something to keep those good-samaritans a little more frantic than usual. Nothing serious, just troublesome enough to make them... dance."

Jack eyed the other suspiciously, "Why are you asking me? Who are you?"

"I'm asking you, Jack, because I'm like you. I'm bored." He came to a halt, and slowly placed his hand on the slowly lowering staff, " Ignored. Disbelieved in. And- I think we could do something spectacular together."

Jack looked up into the dark eyes above him. There was a sparkle of gold in those eyes, something that spoke of ambition. Of hope and plans just waiting to be unfolded.

There was also something that whispered of power. Something that almost made him shiver.

"Who are you?"

The other smiled softly, stepping back, "The name's Pitch. Pitch Black."

Jack let out a nervous scoff, "That's not an ominous name _at all." _

"It's fitting, for my work."

They stood there for a few moments. Jack watched the spirit, Pitch, in front of him- tossing the offering back and forth in his head. For as long as he could remember, no one had wanted anything to do with him. How many years had he wished someone would just _look _at him. Now here was someone basically shoving an opportunity into his lap.

He'd be foolish not to take it.

So what if he loomed in an ominous way. Who cared if his teeth were worryingly jagged, or that shadows seemed to be hugging his figure like a loving embrace?

He couldn't be that bad, right?

He wasn't scared. Nothing scared Jack Frost.

He withdrew the staff, planting it firmly at his side, defiantly.

"That shadow you saw was from that petulant rabbit." Pitch looked behind his shoulder, regarding the moon passingly, "The guardians plan to attempt to... recruit you tonight."

Jack almost psychically recoiled, "What? Are you kidding me? I'm kind of the last person they'd want for that a job like that. Or anything to deal with them-"

"That's precisely what I was thinking." Pitch looked back, spotting the pout the comment produced, "It's part of the reason I want to work with you-"

"Hey now. Slow down. Who's to say I'm going go along with you?" Jack twirled the stick in this hands lazily, starting to get daring again, "Who's to say that I'm not going to warm up to the idea of working along the big four? I hear North makes good cookies. You never know, they might have the better deal."

Pitch looked amused at that. He glanced down, raising an eyebrow at Jack's bare feet, "They plan to make you wear shoes."

The winter spirit looked down in horror at his feet, as if a pair of fuzzy shackles would suddenly appear around his ankles, "Um. No. No, that's not happening."

"Well how about this then," Pitch put one of his hands out, waving it frivolously, "Either you can go along with the guardians, allowing yourself to be kidnapped by the furry abomination that I'm _sure _has completely forgiven you for that little incident in '68. Live your days guarding little children that, honestly, don't really need protection from someone they can't even see. Or-"

Pitch moved his hand forward, waiting for a handshake,"You can can have a little fun with me. To be in on a little, harmless joke, just between us. I assure you, it will be a much better use of your time than, say, stealing cookies from elves? What do you say?"

The hand tilted to the side in question. Jack contemplated it. Slowly, hesitantly, he raised his own hand, clasping it in the other's. He gave it a firm shake. Pitch smiled. Jack grinned. They both gave each other an overexaggerated shake, chuckling softly.  
"So what kind of game is this going to be?"  
Pitch smiled, sharp teeth sending off an eerie light in the dark.  
"This, my friend, is a game of Keep-Away."


	2. Chapter 2

**I swear! You guys almost gave me a heart attack! over 20 follows? *dies* You guys are the best. **

**Yeah, so here's chapter two. Hope I won't disappoint anyone. XD (This is kind of a slow-building relationship fic, so you might have to deal with me for a few more chapters before things get juicy. XD) ****Also: Excuse my failed attempt at accents. The most I know about Australia is what I saw from Ferngully. Which should probably concern me more than it does...**

**Disclaimer: If I owned ROTG, I'd keep it exactly the way it is. Because it's just that perfect. _Pitch _perfect. (*IsShot*)**

* * *

The message had been left in garish black sand, scrawled hastily, threateningly, onto the alley wall.

"_Tick Tock. Little Rabbit's Running Late."_

The Guardians gathered in front of it, at a loss of what to do.

Bunnymond was the first to speak up, clearing his throat, "He's got Jack. Saw the bugger snatch him right off the street. I couldn't get there in time- I'm sorry mate."

North shook his head, "Was not your fault, Bunny. We will find him. Pitch cannot hide forever."

"Do you think Jack's ok?" Tooth fluttered by his side, glancing up at the words with a nervous gleam in her eyes. Her eyes were starting to twitch.

Sandy tugged gently at her arm. When everyone turned to look at the dream spirit, he produced an image of Jack, and then of a flexing bicep. He nodded encouragingly.

Bunnymond blinked, "I don't know if you've noticed mate, but Jack's not exactly the meatiest bean pole out there-"  
"What Bunny means," North quickly interjected, noticing how Tooth's wings seemed to be beating twice as fast, "Is that little Jack will be _fine_. Jack will not give up without mighty fight. I can feel it, in my-"  
"If you say '_belly'_, I'm gonna sock you."  
North's mouth hung open for a moment, before he straightened up, shutting it.  
"We've gotta do _something_ though!" Tooth burst out above them, her hands wringing restlessly. She zig-zagged around in the air, hand gestures becoming more and more explosive with each word," Pitch's got Jack! We can't just sit here! We've got to look for him- send out the search party- call in a code red! What if he's being tortured? What if he's being held captive in a dark and scary place- "  
"Tooth-"  
"_EEP! _What if Jack is being manipulated by Pitch to join his side and now he's- he's- he's _never going to floss his teeth?!" _  
"_Tooth!" _Bunnymond and North shouted, Sandy making a flagging 'calm down' sign. The fairy herself seemed she just about to faint- breathing so hard, she rose and fell a several feet with each labored huff.

North patted her on the back- a move that was meant to be reassuring, but really only managed to knock the wind out of her with an _'Oof!'_, "Just calm down, Toothiana. I'm sure Jack would never 'join Pitch' to do something so-"

"Oh _yeah_", Bunnymond scoffed, voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm sure the little mongrel would just _jump _at the chance to get all snuggly with Pitch just so he wouldn't have to _floss_ his _bloody_ teeth. In fact, that's probably what he's off doing now! I bet he willingly walked off with the bloody _boogeyman _and now they're off making sure his left lateral finger clippers or whatever the hell you call them are all chipped beyond repair _just for the bloody hell of it-"_

Tooth let out a strangled sound.

North and Sandy both gave the pooka death glares so potent the bunny had to jump back, clutching at his heart worryingly.

"Hey- woah now, nelly. I wosn't serious or nothing. Just because Pitch's got the teeth of an age-old chook doesn't mean he's gonna make Jack spend his days knocking back soda and pop rocks-"

Tooth froze. A high pitched, exhausted moan escaped her as she drifted down like a quivering leaf towards the sidewalk. Her little assistants were at her side in an instant- squeaking in concern, fanning her frantically.

North was still glaring. Bunny was sputtering apologizes. Baby Tooths were fluttering about, unsure what to do. Tooth was lying on her side, whispering distractedly about good boys who promise to always take care of their teeth. Sandy had his head thrown back in exasperation, as if saying, _"Now you've done it."_

Eventually, North was able to shoo the little fairies away- scooping up the, slightly delirious, fairy queen in his arms. "We should head back to the Pole," The Russian whispered, "We can set up search from there once everyone is..."  
He glanced down at the bundle of feathers in his arms, "Eh- lucid."  
Bunny was still sputtering every slightly apologetic word he could think of. North sent a sharp look towards the Aussie, who immediately went quiet.

Sandy face-palmed.

North sighed, "Alright, once this is taken care of; Sandy- you take to the skies. See if you can spot any signs of Pitch from the air. Bunny, search the tunnels, try to find anything else he left behind, or even better- figure out where he is. The yetis, Tooth and I will take to the sleigh. Between the three of us, we should be able to find _something-"_

North paused when a little tug pulled at his sleeve. Tooth was looking up at him, "Do you think he's ok, North?"

"I'm sure he is fine,Toothiana. Do not worry about little guardian, we will have him back before you know it- teeth all safe and sound!"

"Yeah, well we'd better find him soon!" Bunny popped up, "It's still three days 'til Easter and I've still got a quota to fill-"

Sandy, none too gently, stepped on his foot.

Tooth sighed, ducking her head down, "I just hope he's alright."

North nodded.

The group turned back to the open space they'd arrived through, North starting to pull the snowglobe from his jacket.

They all missed the pitter patter of softly landing feet behind them.

"Hey guys!" A boyish voice called out, "What's up?"

* * *

"I have to say, that was impressively pathetic." Pitch droned, leaning against a chimney as he yawned.

"Hey, don't blame me!" Jack stood up from where he'd been deposited on the roof, dusting himself off. He kicked his staff back up into his hands, giving it a twirl, "I'm still new to this whole '_getting kidnapped' _business. You're gonna have to give me a few pointers."

"Alright, I'll give you advice. _Usually_ abductees put up some form a fight. Though, don't worry- I'm sure waltzing off with your captor is just as believable. "

"Ok, I couldn't have been _that _bad." Jack leaned on his staff, glancing casually at the alley below them, "I mean, look. I got the Kangaroo to believe it."

Jack felt Pitch glide up beside him, and let a small smile form as they watched the pooka below them, jumping around in panic. Jack subtly pointed his staff at the ground, willing the smallest amount of ice to stick.

The figure below them crashed, comically, into the dumpster in front of him.

Jack let out a stifled laugh, while Pitch allowed himself a small scoff. He quickly directed a splash of his black sand to the wall across from Bunnymond, leaving just one more reason for the pooka to have a heart attack that night.

The winter spirit had to admit, it had been more fun than he thought it would be. He had simply waited for Bunnymond to hop onto the street near the alleyway, and right after their eyes met, Pitch swooped in, appearing to drag him into the shadows.

Jack wished he had had a camera.

Bunnymond was now jumping into one of his tunnels, probably off to tell the other guardians what happened. Jack wondered briefly if Bunny was in such a hurry out of actual concern for him, or if the pooka was just worried about what North would do to him if he told the lumbering Russian how he'd managed to let Jack be abducted right under his nose.  
He shook his head. It was probably the latter.  
He wondered if the should feel bad, though- making them think he'd been taken away by some "evil" mastermind out to thwart their plans to bribe the world's children. But in the end, he decided against it.  
After all, they had been planning on kidnapping him anyway. He saw no real harm in switching things up.  
Soon all four of the guardians were tumbling through a portal, glazing at the black writing with wide eyes and gawking mouths.  
Then they started to bicker.  
Jack watched them with a bit of awe. These were the guardians of all children?

No wonder they were scared of an attack by the '_big,' 'bad' _boogeyman.

"Wow," Jack breathed out, careful to whisper, as to not give away their position, "The guardians are really... silly, aren't they?"

"They're all workaholics who spend 365 days of the year cooped up in their offices," Pitch drawled, leaning over the barrier casually, "The crazy has to come out somewhere."  
Jack glanced at the lithe man beside him, seeing how he smirked with dark amusement as the fairy- the tooth fairy, apparently- proceeded to faint, " So is this it then?"  
Golden eyes turned to him, a questioning eyebrow raised.  
"I mean, is this all there is to the plan? Just whisking me away, wasting their time while you do... whatever it is you plan to do?"  
The eyebrow raised a bit higher, "Do you think I'm really that cheap and unoriginal?"  
"Umm, no?"  
"Good answer." He smirked, "But don't worry Jack, this is far from 'it.' In fact, it only gets better from here. Of course, I could always just 'whisk you away' now, if you so wished."  
"What-"  
"They all seem so 'concerned' for your safety." Pitch waved over in the general direction of the guardians, all looking very solemn, if not more than a little disgruntled at each other, "Can you imagine what they'd do if, say, you suddenly popped out in front of them?"  
Pitch inclined his head towards them, as if saying, _"You should try it." _  
It was definitely starting to sound like a good idea.  
Jack jumped on top of the barrier, intending to float down to the alley below, before the turned around, "Then I'm assuming I'll be seeing more of you?"  
The man in question let out a scoff, lightly patting the other's arm, "You shouldn't fret over _that, _Jack. I'll be seeing you again _very_ soon. There's more to this little plan than little pranks like this, after all."  
Jack smiled. He hoped this meant he wouldn't be bored for a while.  
"Oh, and Jack?"  
The winter spirit turned back to the roof, seeing Pitch starting to back away into the wall, sliding into the shadows.  
"Try not to get too fond of the guardians. It'd be tragic if our little game had to be... postponed due to a slip of the tongue..."  
Jack's brows furrowed in confusion, but then he beamed, "Oh yeah, like I'd ever want to join the side that has the overgrown jack rabbit."  
Pitch smirked- it was a little too sinister to call it a smile, "Keep your eyes and ears open, Jack. I'll be calling again, soon."  
And with that, he completely disappeared into the darkness.  
The winter spirit rolled his eyes, "Yep. Looking forward to it. Nice talking to you too, sunshine."  
He swept off the ledge, preparing to startle the guardians below.  
Not hearing the dark chuckle behind him.

* * *

**Yep, so that was chapter 2. XD**

**I've got some pretty good ideas with where I want to take this, but I'd still really _really _appreciate some ideas being tossed at me, if anyone has any suggestions. **

**As always- still unbeta'd. Tell me if you catch any mistakes or have any suggestions to making it better! **

**Thank you so much ****to everyone who favorited, followed, and especially, reviewed this little thing! You guys seriously do not know how much it spurred me to write more- _(So much Pressure! XD) _**


	3. In which things get seriously serious

**... You guys are amazing. :D**

**All of these favorites and follows! (Reviews are a little lacking though, wonder why?) I can't thank you guys enough- especially when I was starting to really doubt the quality of my work- your reviews really helped push me to keep going. :)**

**That being said- this chapter _was _quite rushed. A lot happens in it so I'm a bit worried it's too wordy/jumbled. Review and tell me if it is? *puppydogeyes* **

**Anyway- here's your make up chapter. Warning- though- It gets a bit serious. But not for wrong. This isn't crack for no reason. XD **

**Disclaimer: If I owned these guys, I'd... run out of puns faster than a pooka can run...**

* * *

Jack had expected many things to happen when he jumped down in front of the guardians. Being tackled by a flurry of feathers was not one of them.  
The overexcited blur barreled into his chest, almost making them both crash to the ground. After Jack managed to catch his balance, he found himself nose to nose with a certain fairy.

Jack all but held the guardian in his arms, blinking in confusion. Tooth was bug eyed, looking as if she'd surprised herself with her own actions. A small blush steadily crept up her face.

She detached one of her hands from his shoulders, coughing into it lightly, "Oh- um... Hi, Jack."

As much as Jack tried to stop the thought, he wondered briefly if this was what a hug felt like.

The moment was ruined shortly afterward. All too suddenly there were nimble fingers prying his mouth open, inspecting every nook and cranny for offenses. He attempted to gargle out a protest, though they went unheard by the determined tooth fairy.

Finding nothing amiss, the fingers withdrew. Their owner heaved a sigh of relief. Jack shook his head, spitting out a stray feather with a sputter.

Just when he thought the assault was over, those small hands were pressed against the sides of his face, squishing them almost endearingly. He mumbled disapprovingly.

"Thank goodness! They- you're safe!" Tooth chuckled nervously.

Then, she froze. She looked around, as if she was just suddenly aware of their position. The hands snapped back as her expression shifted something akin to being horrified with herself. She quickly fluttered out of Jack's arms, flying back to the other guardians. She glared down at her hands, silently condemning them for betraying her.

The alley way was silent.

"So... what'd I do now?"

* * *

"_Look Jack- really look. What do you see?"_

"_I don't know.. You have big eyes?"_

* * *

Bunnymond could have said _so many _things.

He could have calmly asked the boy how in _Moon _he was there. He had seen the winter spirit in the alley. He _knew _he had been there because the Pooka _hadn't _spent the day painting his eggs, like he'd wanted to. The town was freezing, and he had fully intended to give the little brat a piece of his mind about his choice of weather once they'd made it back to the Pole.

He had _not _intended to lose the kid as soon as he found him.

Bunny was 99% sure that no one had spiked his eggnog- (though the elves were always a leery bunch) he knew Pitch Black when he saw him. Darkness and shadows followed the spirit like cats followed that odd cat lady down the road, and they swooped in on Jack like he was covered head to toe with catnip. It was Pitch's shadows that dragged the boy into the ground like a flailing, squeaking, teenage mouse.

Bunnymond did _not _freak out. He didn't. No crevice of the side street was left _calmly _unsearched, no crack in the concrete left unchecked for signs of where the boy had gone. He had _not _panicked over the little punk. Bunny had only done what he could to search for the boy, nothing more.

He had even checked inside the garbage bins. _Definitely _checked those fully, completely intentionally.

Bunny could have told the boy he'd been bloody _kidnapped _by the King of Nightmares, but he didn't.

He had not been standing there, looking at the message on the wall in complete terror for the winter spirit. Not at all.

He could have asked the boy _where the Hell _he'd been.

He could have told Jack he was worried about him. He didn't.

Instead, he stood there, conflict in his eyes- as North began making some sort of redundant introduction. Bunnymond couldn't hear him. Couldn't see the lumbering Russian rambling on about whatever came to his mind. All he could see was the slow, sliding smirk appearing on Jack's face. And somehow, that little thing after a night of nightmares, made him snap.

Distantly, he heard someone calling his name, growing more and more urgent in tone. He wasn't listening. He could only see the too innocent expression in front of him.

"You wanna know what you've done you, you little punk? I'll show you what you've done!"

He had, in no way, intended to knock the boy out with the boomerang.

Just a _little_ head trauma would have satisfied him just fine.

* * *

"_I see the wonder in the world. It's what I protect in children. That is my center. What is your's?"_

"_I... make things cold?"_

* * *

Sandy doesn't understand what's going on, not really.

As he looked to the others, crowded around the globe room, he let out a sigh. The millions of little lights still shined proudly, and he planned to keep them that way. As for the others? He wasn't too sure what in the name of the _moon_ they were thinking.

Bunny was rambling on about something to do with questioning the elves about eggnog. Tooth was viciously pulling his ears after every excuse. North... He wasn't quite sure about North. The Russian had the poor boy laid out on the floor, shaking his shoulders. He supposed he was trying to wake the boy up, but from a dream master's point of view- he didn't even want to think about all of the nausea-inducing dreams the spirit must be envisioning.

To put it bluntly, they were acting _ridiculous._

He'd never seen his fellow guardians act like this, not even under the influence of his, slightly more obscure, dreams. Sure, they tended to act pretty goofy all the time- but, as far as the Sandman was concerned, the guardians of childhood were about to hit an all time low. It was almost spectacular to witness- this descent into chaos. If he wasn't right in the middle of it, he'd consider throwing a party, in celebration of their new found insanity. It was simply that astounding.

At the moment, however, he could only hope the Man in the Moon wasn't watching them too closely.

Sandy imagined a bright, silvery moon, rolling around in laughter in the sky. His ears grew pink with embarrassment.

He rolled up his sleeves, business set hard in his eyes. He'd be cursed if he let them be the ones who made the moon fall out of the sky- possibly from laughing at them a little too hard.

Armed with two elves clutched in his palms, he floated above their heads, then shook as hard as he could.

All eyes were on him, then. Furiously, he began streaming together a string of rushed, angry images that spoke something along the lines of _Dignity, Self Respect, _and a business gesture, all with a question mark, pointing with one of the elves to the window. He narrowed his eyes down at all of them- not too harshly, but enough for them to understand that this was serious.

"_Have you forgotten why we're here?" _He seemed to say, opening his arms at the globe, elves dropping from his hands. An image of a flickering light bulb shining above his head.

The floor beneath him grew quiet.

It was North who stood up first, "Sandy is right. We have spent too long bickering over who did what, or what did what. Doesn't matter! Jack is here now- we need plan. Whether or not he was 'taken' earlier," the others sent not-so-subtle glances towards a certain rabbit, "is not important. Pitch is still out there. We need to be prepared."

"Oh yeah, be prepared." A quiet voice replied, close to the floor, "Knocking out winter spirits is definitely productive."

Everyone in the room turned to see Jack Frost, rubbing his head, slowly sitting up on the floor. The boy winced slightly from the contact, but otherwise seemed fine. Still, Toothiana- once again, not so subtly- pushed Bunnmond forward. Sandy gave him a thumbs up.

The pooka rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly, "Hey, look kid. I'm- I'm sorry about the shiner, but you've gotta understand. I mean, I saw you get abducted by _Pitch _for Pete's sake. We weren't really the most coherent group at the time..."

"Really? I've never been kidnapped before. Now twice in one day? I must be going for some sort of record." Jack's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Some of the others in the room flinched, "And 'Pitch'? Isn't that something to do with baseball? Cause if I was 'kidnapped' by that, it'd be _really _embarrassing.

North blinks, " 'Kid-napped?' I did not know being hit in the head counted as a nap-"

"Look I said I'm sorry- alright?!" Bunnymond jumped in, "And, really? Pitch? You don't know that slimy devil? The bloody '_King' _of '_Nightmares'_? Hard to imagine the pompous prick would let anyone go around not knowing a name like that-"

"The point is- Jack," Tooth, convenitally, fluttered in front of Bunny. She inspected Jack's head, making a noticeable effort to not touch him, "That you're ok. You are ok, right?"

Jack was blinking up at them, a puzzled look on his face. He mouthed the word _Nightmares _with a bit of bewilderment. His brows furrowed.

A small shake of his head, and the confusion melted away, "Yeah. Of course I'm fine. A little trick toy isn't going to take me out."

Bunny took a step forward. Tooth stuck her arm out.

"Well, since little Jack is all-right," North smiled, starting to gesture to hidden figures down the hall, "The ceremony can begin!"

Jack couldn't even get in a bewildered, "What?" before the elves stormed in.

Sandy, for the second time that night, faced-palmed.

* * *

"_No, look harder. What is it you bring to children?_

"_I... prevent them from getting a proper education?_

* * *

As it turns out, bombarding someone, with possible head trauma, with joyous noise was not a good idea. Which Tooth thought was absolutely preposterous- joyous noise fixed everything.

Though, as she was realizing more and more by the minute, Jack was not someone to conform to common forms of childish amusement. Which included excessive fanfare. He probably didn't even like teeth.

She sighed. _Teenagers._

They always needed to rebel, didn't they? The frozen globe room was a testament to that.

"What makes you think I want to be a guardian?"

There was that, too.

"Of course you do!" North, as oblivious as ever, tactfully ignored the face Jack pulled.

"Ok, rephrase." The winter spirit mumbled, after he was finished pinching the bridge of his nose, "Even if I _wanted _to- why would _you _want _me_? I mean, I'm not exactly what you'd call the 'responsibility' and 'working' type."

"That's exactly what I was thinking, mate."

Jack wasn't listening, though. Instead, he'd taken to perching himself on a spare desk, surveying the room with a gleam of curiosity. He eyed the mounds of snow out the windows with special interest, "Are we at the North Pole?"

"We recruit you-" The Russian piped up, and Tooth noted everyone's increasing ability to ignore each other with increasing worry, "Because Man in Moon said it is so."

Jack's head snapped to North in surprise. At North's pointing hand, the boy looked up at the skylight, to the pale, looming moon. None of the others saw it, but Tooth- being a slightly above the others, due to her excited fluttering- saw the flash of hurt that flew across his eyes.

A twinkle of sand came from the boy's right. He looked down to see Sandy by his side, nodding encouragingly.

"He talks to you?" Jack said, in almost a whisper. Sandy's eyes widened at the trace of betrayal he found in that voice.

Hesitantly, he nodded. It was followed by a string of rapidly changing images that made Jack's head visibly spin.

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, um, thanks, but that's not really helping, little man." He pushed himself up, moving to pace around the area, "So what? The only reason you even think of me is because the moon tells you to?"

Sandy and Tooth looked at each other. They knew where this was headed, "Jack, it's not just because of that. We would have-"

"What? So you all ignore me for 300 years, not even bothering to say '_Oh hey! Yeah, by the way, _we can see you_._'" Jack spun around to face them, ice blue eyes piercing straight through whatever they had been about to say. His tone was quickly growing poisonous, his eyes showing venom and malice and _hurt. _He let out a laugh- a quiet, desperate noise,_ "_And now you think you can just _abduct_ me and expect me to forget that? You think I'm ok with you just suddenly wanting anything to do with me- just because you _need me? _Do you seriously think that's, in any way, Ok?"

A pin dropped. It echoed throughout the workshop. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of an elf being pushed over could be heard.

Jack was breathing hard, and Tooth could see his eyes starting to rim red. Jack seemed to notice this too, because he shut his eyes, clutching his staff in front of him protectively.

He exhaled, "'Cause it's not. It's really not."

Tooth bit her lip. She had had no idea how the young spirit had been faring, out on his own. Guiltily, she realized she hadn't even spared a thought for the boy in all of her years of knowing about him. She been too 'busy', but Tooth had a feeling that that would be a very, very bad thing to say.

In the silence, she saw things about him. Some things she hadn't bothered to notice before- before the boy had just short of screamed at them to get them to _notice. _She noticed how thin he was, how frayed and tattered the bottoms of his trousers were. She saw the cold, bare feet- hardened from years of wandering around by themselves. The frost that clung to him like a weak imitation of an embrace. Most of all, however, she noticed his eyes. Eyes that were so blue, so searching and lost.

They looked like the surface of a frozen lake, trying to stay strong moments before cracking open.

The fairy looked around at the other guardians around her, silently imploring them to do something.

Sandy seemed just as heartbroken as she felt. The same guilt washing over his face, but also some sort of understanding shinned dully behind his eyes. Bunnymond was shifting back and forth, uncomfortable on the balls of his feet.

Only North stepped forward, strong, confident, as always.

"Jack," He said, "Walk with me."

As they strolled down the hall, Jack little more hesitantly, Tooth found herself watching them go. She watched until they rounded the corner, out of sight,

She wished joyous noise really would fix everything.

* * *

"_No, No. Really think. What is it you do. What is it you want to protect in all children- throughout all time?"_

"_... To make sure they never have to drink eggnog, if all of it tastes like this?"_

"_Jack."_

"_Sorry."_

A cup of steaming eggnog was passed to the boy, who sat on the windowsill, slowly running his fingers over the ever-growing frost. His hand was engrossed in it's task- the boy's mind, not so much. North's center did not have big eyes out of pure awe, after all. No matter what the others thought, they saw things, too. Small, insignificant, important things.

Which was why he had made the beverage extra, _extra _piping hot- so it would still be just a little warm, even after it rested in Jack's hands.

Jack must have noticed this, because his pointed effort of not looking at the other man deterred, for just a moment. The lukewarm cup in his hands caught his interest just a bit more than the _very _interesting window, or the suddenly compelling floor. A sliver of a smile creeping up when the steam tickled his nose.

It all made having to wear the obscenely fluffy oven mitts worth it.

He tossed the hairy abominations carelessly towards a random corner. The elves would pick them up sooner or later.

North let out a chuckle at the eyebrow Jack raised when he eyed what looked to be, from his point of view, flying cats.

"The yetis usually do the cooking." North waved off flippantly.

Jack mouthed a silent, _"oh," _nodding awkwardly. He sniffed the eggnog, then took a tentative sip. If it hadn't been so quiet in the office, North would have missed the pleased hum that the boy let out.

The boy looked so small, curled up on the window sill. He'd gradually migrated there as they had talked- like he was slowly trying to make a break for it. Anything to escape the conversation, from contact. Eventually, North was able to get the winter spirit to calm down, settled enough to feed him eggnog and not have to worry about the lad going into a fit and throwing it across the room.

Three hundred years of solitude hadn't exactly taught the silverette to be trusting of people.

"You do good Jack, I know you do." North pulled up a chair across from Jack's perch, nursing his own eggnog gently, "Man in Moon does not make decisions like this without reason. If the moon thinks you should be guardian- he must see something very special inside you. Something you yourself do not see yet."

The boy swallowed hard, his eyes downcast to the floor, "I don't know, North. I still don't think I'm cut out for this. This whole center thing is just a little- it's hard to-"

"You _do _have a center, Jack. You just need to find it."

He glanced up at the Russian through the fringe of his hair, action that made Jack look, if it was even possible, even smaller.

"Do I have to go back out there?" He asked, head nodding slightly to the door.

North smiled reassuringly, "Not until you want to. And, perhaps, only after we get nuzzle for Bunnymond. I think he needs a little help with holding his tongue."

Jack smiled, and this one almost reached his eyes.

"I'll think about it." He mumbled, taking another sip, "No promises though. And while I'm here- Bunnymond has to keep his boomerangs to himself."

North let out a nice, hearty laugh.

"Of course, Jack. Of course."

Sometime later, when the eggnog is finished and the doodles on the windowpane are forgotten, Jack spots the ice sculptures sitting on his desk, and hops over to them excitedly. They joke briefly about the joys of ice, before settling down to construct little ice figurines of their own. North breaths a little bit of light into the little toy soldiers and snowflakes.

"Really? They can walk around and everything on their own?" Jack asks, excitedly making more ice to be carved.

"Da. They can. But we made them, so they are never truly alone."

If North can help it, he will try to make sure Jack never feels like he's on his own again.

* * *

"_Ha Ha! Give it up little Jack! Ice figurines _Never _blink!"_

* * *

They spend the whole afternoon cooped up in North's office. Going through pints of eggnog and making enough sculptures to open up their own mini museum. There's a lot of North's booming laughter, and Jack even lets himself chuckle a little- when the little trains accidentally crash into the window, or when North makes a hoard of snowflakes chase after a stray elf.

All in all, Jack looks calmed down. North is happy enough at that.

When they stand up from the table- to get more eggnog, or to go out to the globe room, neither are quite sure- Jack holds him back for a moment.

It makes North happy, to see that the distraught, close to tears Jack is gone from those eyes. Jack looks more or less stable now- '_well, as stable as a teenager can be'. _He thinks. Though there's still something unsure about him, and the boy fidgets a bit as he tries to find the words.

"I just wanted you to know- I really will think about it. I've just got to think about it on my own for a little while. I'll probably be back by tomorrow..."

North's brows knit, "Even if Bunny was... 'Imagining' earlier, Pitch is still out there. If you have to leave- be careful. There is dark things afoot-"

Jack scoffs, a little too confidently, "Thanks, but I think I'll be fine."

"If you say so, Little Jack."

North smiled down at him, hoping he'll be as safe as he thinks. He begins to make his way towards the door. He still had a workshop to run, and some of the guardians were probably still sticking around to hear what had happened.

"Oh, and- North?"

He turned to glance back at the boy. He had his staff clutched in front of him protectively again.

"I really meant it. Thank you- for today. I just... I don't think I can talk to the others yet."

North blinks a bit at words at first, but then smiles endearingly and the little winter spirit. He opened his arms invitingly, leaving it completely up to the boy on whether or not to allow himself to be bear-hugged.

Jack was still standing a bit awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do, when the room suddenly turns dark.

"_Well isn't this a touching scene." _A slithering voice filled the whole room. The shadows creeping into every space, circling around dangerously.

North snapped to attention.

"Pitch." He whispers, reaching for his double swords.

"_So heartfelt. I'm sorry to ruin this special occasion- but I'm afraid all of this sugary conversation is making my stomach crawl."_

Jack and North looked around the room, trying to find where the voice was coming from. North had his swords drawn, pointing at every shadow threateningly- Pitch could pop out of anywhere.

The Nightmare King himself did finally make himself known, as his shadows wiggled into the lock of the windows. A blast of cold air alerted the pair to the dark figure outside the window, leaning casually against the outer window sill.

"Pitch." North growled out, sword poised, ready to slash at a moment's notice, "What do you want?"

"What? Can't I stop by for a friendly chat? You wound me." Pitch's smile is sharp, the sides curling up to a bite.

"Whatever you are planning _Pitch, _you will not succeed." North ground out, looking for all the world like he wanted nothing more than to lob a sword at the shadowy figure.

"Oh boo hoo. What kind of an argument is that? F for effort." Pitch sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically, "Simply _believing _will get you nowhere now, old man. And besides, I only came here to inform you that everything is in order. No more waiting around, flinting about being 'busy' preparing for your little schemes to keep children believing in you. Don't worry, North- soon, you won't have to worry about that anymore. You won't be able to worry about anything anymore, after I-"

Pitch never got to finish his sentence. Pitch never stopped before he had said all he wanted to.

North stood, wide eyed in shock at the _splat _that resonated throughout the room.

He had to be imagining it, he _had to. _Because there was now a sizeable splatter of snow coating Pitch's face- and when he glanced behind him, Jack's arm was still posed from the throw.

"_Hey!" _Jack is yelling, hysterical and looking quite... pissed, _"We're having a moment here!"_

Jack had thrown a snowball.

_By _Golovano_, Jack had just thrown a snowball at _Pitch.

Pitch looks just as surprised, the slush melting in his hair. He's too shocked to even wipe the snow from his face. The nightmare king doesn't make a move- to North's infinitely growing surprise- he only stands there, blinking.

No one says anything. A new kind of awkward has just entered North's vocabulary.

Jack looks ruffled. Shaking himself a little, he makes a shooing motion towards the window, _"_Go! Shoo! Come back later."

Pitch blinks. If the window sill hadn't been there, North is fairly certain he would have fallen over.

The nightmare king's eyes are wider than the moon itself, as he blinks. And continues to blink. Eventually, with a shadow of grace, he slowly picks himself up.

North thinks, _"This is it. This is how it ends. The guardians of childhood- taken down by a stray snowball. _

Pitch pauses for a moment- but then, a small voice leaves him," ..._ Alright then." _

_..._

_Alright Then? _

Distantly, North is aware that Pitch is leaving. Very, very far away- Jack is waving a hand in front of his face, asking if he's ok.

* * *

North makes a mental note to inspect the eggnog, once he's conscious again.

* * *

**Chapter 3, everyone! XD**

**So, that being said, if you liked this chapter/want more- or don't, for that matter- you have to LEAVE A REVIEW telling me so. Follows and favorites are AWESOME. Thank you if you did either. But reviews tell me what people want to see and what they think- so they're INVALUABLE to me. You'd help me out a lot by taking the time to write one. And i'd love you forever. that's always a plus. XD**

**I hope you enjoyed! :)**


	4. In which Pitch is Lady Macbeth

**LATE CHAPTER IS LATE. I apologise for that- especially since you are all such awesome, wonderful readers! So here's an even longer chapter for you. XD**

**Warnings: Unfortunately, this thing called "plot" got in the way and had to make this chapter, once again, quite serious. This is the last one though- next chapter, things will be well and silly again. I promise. **

**And, well- join me at the end notes! Enjoy!**

* * *

It was the sad truth that, if you wanted your work to be praised and appreciated, you shouldn't be a Yeti.

If there was ever a more underappreciated creature than a yeti, Phil would be absolutely _thrilled_ to hear about it. Not because he was particularly fond of taking joy in the horrible things in other people's lives, but more so because whenever he thought of how bizarre and frustrating his everyday life had become, he liked to think that there _must _be someone out there who had it worse. Whenever Phil's own life seemed to be getting more and more ridiculous by the day, he liked to imagine these possible people, and it made him feel slightly better about himself.

Needless to say, the existence of those imaginary people was starting to seem more and more unlikely.

It was prejudice, plain and simple. A toymaker just wasn't the respectable occupation it used to be, in the eyes of the public. You can't go around telling people you're toymaker now-a-days and expect them to imagine anything short of a three foot tall elf, bells on shoes and all. People just didn't understand all of the working mechanics that had to be diligently applied to the art of toy making, and sometimes Phil was glad they didn't. All of the magic would be dragged out of their fluffy little imaginations with a rusty ice scraper if they understood.

Most people assumed their job was all lobbing hammers around and painting dolls. How far from the truth could they be! Did people even realize how many children around the world expected electronic toys under their fake trees for christmas? Did people even think about how difficult it is to assemble a single circuit board- let alone all of the conductive paths and wires that went into making a single movement possible? Do people even think about all of the engineeric designing and countless testing that goes into constructing a working, miniature helicopter?

No, of course they didn't.

Yetis were scientists, and proud ones at that. A doctorate in toy making mind as well equal elven PhDs in the assorted sciences of engineering, mathematics, and practical nursing. (Some workers were not as careful with the power tools as they would had liked) Yetis had to achieve all this, and still be able to bake cookies and paint neatly within the lines of an action figure.

And above all, they had to work for North.

Working for the Russian was no laughing matter! While the man was out being a guardian over children, his team of yetis were the guardians over _him. _Phil still wasn't entirely sure North knew how many elf-contaminated cookies they intercepted during the work week, or complete toy-catastrophes they had to prevent every _hour. _Oh, but that's not to say the man himself didn't do anything. On the contrary, North was the sole organizer of their big, furry chaos. Without North, the whole operation would be for mote. (After all, none of the Yetis wanted anything to do with the delivery division of Santoff Claussen. Did people really expect them to learn how to _drive _too?)

Yetis had no one to back them up if something went wrong- so if something happened to North, they were, frankly, screwed.

Today was one of those days Phil honestly didn't it was even possible for anyone to have a more hectic job than him. Or, at least, the mess in front of him pretending to be a job. (It was almost cute, how hard it was trying.)

Phil was a fluent understander in 15 major human languages, along with the dialects of 'Tooth mumbling', 'Sand sign language', and a particularly interesting flavor of modern teenage techno-lingo. He was a Yeti that could be plopped down on nearly any corner of the earth and be able to communicate with at least enough enthusiasm to get him somewhere with a working phone- and then promptly be able to yell at whoever in the world picked up on the other line.

That being said, Phil could not understand a single word being spoken in the infirmary- or more accurately, a word being _snarked_.

The little man of Sand seemed to be just as lost as he was, which was comforting. It let Phil know he had not been the only one to see the insanity of the situation. They stood by the doorway together, each holding a first aid kit, but neither making any move to step any closer to the verbal boxing ring in the center of the room.

The other guardians, and the little frost-thief, were huddled around the large, sweater wearing mass lying on the central bed. Various yetis and elves were trying to be of some medical assistance, but more often than not ended up restraining the big-eared guardian from hopping over North to pounce at the ice-bringer. Phil saw the guardian's huge, powerful feet, threatening to kick the three yetis holding him back, and winced.

Every once in awhile, Phil could make out the little white-haired burglar saying something about _"too much eggnog" _or _"drug testing", _but not much else was comprehendible. The large kangaroo- rabbit- Australian thing wasn't any better. He kept making obscure angry references that he wasn't entirely sure the Aussie himself understood.

Phil wondered if anyone was consciously aware of what was coming out of their mouths. It was unlikely, he reasoned. If anyone actually paid any attention to what exactly was being said, he had a feeling they would have stopped talking a long time ago- and then maybe hidden their heads under a few pillows in embarrassment. After all, exactly did, _"I bet'ya made him as full as a goog- you whacker!" _mean?

"We left you alone with him for a few hours! What in bloody Mary's name do you mean _he just fainted?!" _

"I don't know! It's like I said. He was talking about the power of friendship or what not and then he just... fainted."

Everyone in the room looked at the boy with varying degrees of disbelief. The Sand-man next to Phil coughed silently.

Jack looked around, fumbling with his staff. He quickly pointed to some cookie-snatchers beside him, "I blame the elves."

Said elves looked very offended. One began rolling up it's sleeves, before it was cut off by a yeti-ish groan from the cot.

Every eye was trained on North as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"What is this ruckus then?" The Russian mumbled, before memory seemed to return to him as he looked around frantically, "Why are you not out fighting Pitch?"

"Pitch? What do you mean Pitch?" Bunny started, leaning over to look the man in the eye,"Please don't tell me you saw him too, mate."

"He was here- at the pole!" North tried to jump out of bed, reaching for his missing double swords, but Tooth pushed him back down, "He came through the window and- Jack! Great _Stravinsky! _Jack- you-"

"Wait, wait," Jack leaned over, pushing Bunny out of the way, much to the pooka's chagrin, "Did you see Pitch in your office?"

North's eyes widened as he nodded, quite vigorously.

"Did you see Pitch outside the window, looking all high mighty and making his big, '_Oh, I'm bad!' _speech, and then just left?"

North looked like he wanted to jump out of bed again, but a sharp glance from Tooth keeps him planted. Phil takes this as his chance to creep closer to the bed, subtly trying to see if there's any bumps or bruises on the Russian's head.

He's just about to put an ice pack on North's head when the man lets out a triumphant yell, raising his arms, and knocking back everyone in what the yetis have learned to call '_the expressive danger zone' _(essentially, his arm's length, or, when needed, his swords' length)

"Yes Jack! Was exactly like that!" North boomed, somehow ignoring the fact that at least two yetis, Tooth, and _'leetle Jack' _were currently picking themselves off the floor.

Jack rubbed his lower back, crinkling his nose in discomfort, "Yeah... Um... None of that happened. _Totally _didn't happen."

If those in the room had looked disbelieving before, they look absolutely flabbergasted then. (Phil decided that one needed to use an awfully silly sounding adjective in this situation. No other word would probably convey the sheer, almost painful speechlessness on the guardian's faces, and considering the almost comical circumstance. Plus, it wasn't often he got to use silly adjectives in such a justifying way. )

Phil decided, at that inner monologue, that perhaps it wasn't North's head that he should be checking- but his own.

"It didn't happen?" Bunny rose up, walking over very, very slowly to where Jack stood, "_It. Didn't. Happen? _How, then, did you describe all of that?"

"Yeah Jack..." Toothiana fluttered forward, eyes tentative, "How did you know that?"

The makeshift infirmary grew silent as Jack fidgeted about, searching for answers behind his eyes. He smiled slightly, a crooked little grin that didn't quite match up with the nervous chuckle that sputtered out of him. The back of his neck was suddenly quite itchy, as he kept rubbing it, shifting back and forth on his feet.

The Man of Sand's eyes picked up on this movement, focusing in on it rather quizzically. Phil thought this was all quite excessive, considering that their gazes seemed to be burning a hole through the poor lad.

"Yeah... Funny story about that... you see, um," Jack fumbled. He quickly scrambled for a recovery, "I didn't want to out anyone like this but- North talks in his sleep."

A chorus of '_What's_ echoed around the room- or, in Sandy's case, a scrutinizing glare- like a choir. It was actually quite beautiful. Phil wondered if the guardians had ever tried caroling before- but one wayward look to the _very unamused _Sandman told him otherwise.

"It's true!" The boy threw his arms in the air, an _'I'm Innocent!' _look coming about him, "Seriously, I don't know if it was some eggs got tainted with just a bit too much paint-dye or something but he just kept talking and talking-"

North blinked, "I didn't know I talk to my sleep-"

"Well," Tooth brought up, "North, you _have _been staying up for rather long amounts of time-"

"Alright- am I seriously the only one who find this a little hard to believe?" Bunnymund shook his head, annoyance creeping back into his voice. He scoffed "Not only did North just 'faint', now you're saying that he 'talks' in his sleep about Pitch appearing in his bedroom?"

"Well, when you put it that way," Jack laughed, cutting off Bunny's angry stuttering, "He did say some, _interesting _things about you. Would you like to hear about them?"

Just as quickly as it had left, the cacophony of snarking was back, now plus the booming voice of North. Phil sighed. He took this as a sign to leave, before _he _somehow got sucked into all of this.

He didn't even bother trying to sneak out. No one noticed the six foot tall abominable snowman walking out of the room in exasperation, anyway. Not even the Sandman, who still looked at the frost child, suspicion beginning to cloud his eyes.

* * *

Jack doesn't know how long they spent in the infirmary. They argued about everything- about the appearance of Pitch, the validity of everyone's claims, whether or not they should waste their arguing time to question the elves- and it never amounted to anything useful. They could have been fighting for hours, for all he knew.

Tooth had ushered him out, after what was somehow designated as an "end of session." Though, Jack was sure Tooth had just slammed a book onto a nearby desk and called out "Order!". She had smiled, when he questioned her about the whole, strange experience. She patted his head, reassuring him that it wasn't his fault. The fairy seemed very animate in insisting that every council meeting ended up like that, eventually.

And the guardians wondered why Jack wasn't exactly gung hoabout joining them.

The winter spirit yawned. He was walking leisurely down the halls of the workshop, exploring some of the more private looking corridors before anybody could realize it probably wasn't a good idea to leave the frost boy on his own. To his credit, Jack hadn't done much. He only froze one or two elves that passed him, and he hadn't interrupted the work floor in any way beyond staring in awe at the colors and sounds around him.

They must have been looking for him by now. Jack was surprised they had let him slip away at all, considering he was still technically a neutral party. Maybe he was better at the whole 'distracting' thing than he thought.

The hallway he was walking down was quiet, barely any doors on either side. It wasn't lit properly either, which Jack thought was a bit odd, for the usually bright and jolly North Pole. The red and green carpet was still soft beneath his feet, though, so it put him at ease.

He supposed he should have realized that was a mistake sooner.

"_I didn't appreciate that._"

Jack spun around, staff raised. The voice echoed throughout the hallway in a bored drawl, but Jack knew better. He knew who would materialize out of the darkness, but he still kept his staff raised, just in case.

The dark shades in a corner of the hallway began to swirl, forming into a long, sullen figure. He recognized the face that appeared from the shadows, and let out a relieved sigh.

"Pitch," He smiled, leaning once more on his staff. A nervous chuckle left him as the Nightmare King crept closer, looming over him, hands behind his back.

"And I mean it Jack. It wasn't appreciated."

There was a piercing look in his golden eyes.

Jack coughed, "Hey, don't look so serious. Are you really still mad about earlier? I personally thought I was helping you out- you know, with the whole 'causing distracting panic' and what not. Come on, you're not still mad about that, are you?"

Pitch, to say the least, was not amused. The man only continued to loom ominously in the shadows, holding himself in a tall, business manner. He tilted his head to the side, silently questioning Jack if that was _really _how he wanted to greet the Nightmare King.

Jack wasn't really sure what to think. North had obviously seen Pitch as a serious threat, enough to immediately point his swords towards the other man's throat. If someone like North was so cautious around this spirit, Jack was fairly certain he should be a little more careful around him. But something felt _wrong _about that thought.

"_Neutral party" _He thought to himself, _"He wouldn't hurt a neutral party, right?"_

He tried again, "I mean, look. It made North _pass out._ And- and did you see how disorganized everyone in that room was? Think about it, this could be a good start to some good, bona fide panic- isn't that what you wanted?"

Pitch quirked up an eyebrow, "You thought it was a good idea to cause widespread panic with a snowball?"

The winter spirit raised a finger, about to counter, but paused as the words sunk in. He shoved his hand in his pocket, defeated, "Ok, I'll admit, the snowball was a bit hammy. But come on, you can't say that wasn't at least a _little _good."

Pitch's eye twitched. The grey skinned man closed his eyes, letting out a deep, restrained breath. Jack could almost see the man counting down from ten in his head. For a brief moment, he wondered if he should be worried about that.

Pitch started slowly, the control hissing warningly in his tone,"I'll, graciously, let this little stint slide, just this once." He pressed his fingertips together, tipping them towards Jack in an almost pleading gesture, "But let's leave the extended planning to _me_ from now on, shall we?"

Jack's smile deflated. "Oh, yeah. Sure thing."

The boogeyman must have caught the clip in Jack's tone, because he peered down at the boy with a renewed spark of interest. A small, dangerous grin sneaked across his lips, "We _are_ continuing with the plan, aren't we Jack?"

The other looked up at the taller man cautiously. The almost gleeful light in Pitch's eyes was unnerving. Something about this shift in demeanor made the whole hallway seem smaller, the walls pressing in too close. If Jack wasn't careful, he'd find himself backed against a wall.

He gulped, "Well... yeah, of course-"

Pitch's eyes shined, pinning him in their intensity. They glowed, like a predator that had just cornered it's prey.

"Oh Jack, is that hesitance I hear?" The silverette jumped as, suddenly, Pitch was behind him- circling around him inquisitively. There was a smile in his voice as the shadows curved around them lazily, trailing behind the man like a snake dipped in tar, "Did a little kindness make you forget why we started this? I didn't think you as the soft type, Jack. You seemed so sure of yourself before, and now you're just going to let the guardians reel you in like this? After three hundred years of such abandonment too- are you really such a saint to forget all that? How... servile."

Jack's eyes narrowed, "No, it's not that, it's just-"

"What then?" Pitch mocked, "You'd rather run off with these, _diplomatic _buffoons? Honestly Jack, and I thought you had standards. Why else would they all leave you on your own for so long? I'd have thought you were better than that."

Pitch smirked as he came to the front of the winter spirit. The boy looked away, chewing his lip in thought.

The shadows closed in, nipping at Jack's heels.

Pitch leaned in, "Am I mistaken?"

Jack couldn't think of anything to say.

Eventually, he looked up, searching the gold irises intently. "They call you the _Nightmare King."_

Pitch seemed surprised by the response, stepping back from the boy.

"Oh, I see." The nightmare king hummed, nodding in approval to some thought in his head, "You see Jack, I don't think you understand what it is I do."

The winter spirit cocked his head, almost challengingly. He wasn't entirely sure what there was to misunderstand about such a name, "Really?"

"Really." There it was again- that cool, calculated smile, "I could always show you. If, perhaps, you were willing to slip away from your precious baby sitters for a while."

Jack scoffed. Now Pitch was just egging him on, he knew that.

That didn't mean he wouldn't still jump for the bait, "Are you serious? Stay here for another '_parent-teacher' _conference from hell? No thank you."

Pitch's smile only grew with that. He looked like he was about to say more, when his head turned sharply to the right. His eyes scanned the hallway.

"Someone's coming." He noted, unconcerned, "No matter. We'll just have to continue this conversation later. Though, soon."

"Soon?" Jack could almost feel his ears perk up.

The other let out a small chuckle, "Yes. I'm be seeing you, momentarily, Jack. Until then."

As soon as he had appeared, Pitch was slipping into the darkness. The only trace of the boogeyman was the too-dark shadows, and a certain metallic taste in the air.

Just as Pitch's toes had disappeared into the wall, the sound of claws skittering across slick floors reached Jack's ears. Bunnymund slid around the corner, almost falling over in his attempt to change direction. The pooka just barely skid to halt as he approached Jack, who flinched at the killer carpet-burn the rabbit must be getting from his ordeal.

Bunny searched around frantically, checking all of the corners of the hallway, even in Jack's pocket, (causing a _completely _manly squeak from Jack) before he finally stepped back, relaxing a bit.

"I thought I heard you talking to Pitch." Bunny explained, to Jack's bewildered expression.

"Well... There's no Pitch here."

Bunny's expression dead panned almost instantly, "Alright- _no. _We are _not _going through this again." The pooka straightened up to his full height, not even bothering to smooth down his ruffled fur, "I don't even care if it was Pitch or not- I _know _I heard you talking to someone, mate. You look pretty much on your lonesome right now- so _who were you talking to? _And don't you _dare _try and blame it on the eggnog again. I'm _clean. _We had it _tested." _

Jack blinked. He honestly wasn't sure if the small noise that left him was from trying not to laugh, or trying not to cry. He figured it was a little bit of both.

Just how much of this could he get away with?

The winter spirit took a deep breath, as if readying himself for a confession, "Alright- you caught me. I- I was talking to my staff."

Bunny paused, "Your _staff?"_

Jack nodded. A poor imitation of a sweet smile plastered on his face.

"You were _talking_ to your _staff?"_

"Hey! You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. It can be quite the conversationalist if you listen. It has the most interesting things to say about aesthetic philosophy."

…

"Um, Jack. Boy. For the sake of your and _my _mental health- _stop talking." _

* * *

Elves, admittedly, did not understand much.

Most of their limited knowledge was used to perfect the booming toy industry of Santoff Clausen, and making excellent gingerbread houses, of course. It was all an elf ever needed to know to be successful in life.

Though, that didn't mean they didn't realize when something was wrong.

Far from it, in fact. It only took the general elf population a total of ten minutes to realize their employer was engaged in battle, along with his little friends- which was quite an impressively short amount of time, for an elf.

And of course they saw when the big bad sandman (not the the silent, elf manhandling one. After all, this one was quite tall, dark, and seemed to really like the sound of his own voice.) appeared above the globe. Nor did they miss when the ice-bringing chimney sweep flew up to confront the man, only to be caught in what North might have explained to be a "_hug of evil" _(Which elves didn't quite understand, since all hugs seemed to spawn from pure evil, in their experience.)

It was true, elves did not understand much- but they did see the looks of shock that the little elf-popsicle-maker seemed to have frozen onto the gaurdian's faces since his arrival. The looks of being hopelessly lost that were plastered across the room as the big-meanie _poofed _away, snowflake man still trapped in the _hug of utter doom. _

And while the elves assumed that this would have been a good thing, considering that their feelings towards the boy were lukewarm at most, the guardians did not seem to think the same.

They all looked to each other.

"_Alright," _The giant teddy bear (_not a teddy bear? Teddy Bunny? _It was a great debate amongst the elves' Friday coffee group) said, after several moments of silence, _"Can we _all agree _that that was really Pitch?" _

Simultaneous nodding.

"_Ok, good. Now can we _All. Agree. _that Jack was kidnapped this time?"_

"Yeah..." "да." Fervent nodding.

"_Ok, now that we've got that taken care of- _are we going to bloody do something about it?!"

The guardians jump to attention, running off in various directions, all in search of the little ice-man, and the scary sandman.

However, the elves did not notice any of this. They had long since wandered off, distracted by a new shiny thing or noise maker. And the guardians, in turn, left them in peace.

* * *

Jack was never sure how to feel about towns at night.

It was easy to judge a city during the day, when Jack could see it's people milling around and how many children were sitting around, just waiting for a snow day to blow in. Day time was when the kids were willing to run outside in their pajamas at the first sign of a flurry, or looked like a good snowball fight would brighten their whole week.

Night was completely different. It was a bit obvious, when he thought about it, but it still surprised him once in awhile, when the sun sank below the hills and the children wandered back to their homes. When the streets were as quiet as his snow and the ice sparkled in the lamplight. Sometimes, he liked sticking around to see the Sandman begin his work, but more often than not, the wind scooped him up and tossed him to some other part of the world, leaving when the quiet still seemed calming, before the silence began to feel lonely.

The moon was shadowed behind the clouds, that night- but as far as Jack could tell, Pitch had set them down in a place that looked like any other residential area, of any town. There were no lights in windows.

Jack's face was pressed up against the glass of one of the house's windows, careful to keep his frost confided to the edges of the pane. A little girl rested within the bedroom, golden sand twirling above her head. All in all, the scene of every child's nighttime, from Jack's experience.

It made everything all the more puzzling.

"What are we doing here?" He asked, after he couldn't keep his questions locked up any longer.

He glanced back at the man materializing behind him. Some black sand swirled around his fingers. He regarded it with passing interest, "_You _are about to see what I do."

Jack nodded, looking to him expectantly. Pitch quirked an eyebrow, making a circling "_turn around" _motion with his finger, pointing to the window. The boy turned back around, watching the room carefully.

A bit of the black sand squeezed it's way under the glass, floating about the room until it found the brightly shining dream. Jack was about to ask what was happening, when Pitch came up beside him, shaking his head and bringing his finger to his lips with a "_shh." _

So Jack continued to watch.

He had a feeling he knew, when the black sand began ensnaring the gold. He knew he knew what was happening, when the child twitched in her sleep and tossed in unease. He knew what this was- _a nightmare- _and that feeling of _wrong _grew and grew inside his chest again. A dark, spidery horse was cantering around the girl's head as her tossing and turning grew more and more erratic.

She was scared. A sudden mantra of _save, help, protect _shot through his head like a heartbeat.

"Pitch-" Jack's voice sounded very small, especially as he looked to the shadow king beside him, "You- you've got to _stop it. _It- it's _hurting _her!"

To his horror, the man only _shhed _him gently again, "Just a little longer- There. _Look." _

His bony finger was pointed back to the room, but Jack hesitated before looking back through the glass. Jack had always tried to make kids feel better, to make them happy. To just watch as a child suffered was growing more and more unthinkable by the second. If he saw the girl so _scared _and _not having fun _he was afraid he would jump into through the window and freeze the whole room- and who knew what Pitch would do then.

He did look back, however, when light flooded through the glass.

The girl had woken up, tears pooling in her eyes, the fear still etched into her face, even though the dark mare was gone. She was running out of the room. Jack failed to see how this was any better. Now not only was the child scared, but now she was alone and out of bed and probably _so cold. _

Then, but _then- _two adults entered the room, each holding one of the little girl's hands. _Her parents, _he thought. He unconsciously found himself stepping closer to the glass, pressing his fingertips against the pane when the three sat down on the child's bed, each taking the small girl into their arms. Though he couldn't hear anything through the screen, he saw as the tears turned slowly into smiles, smiles into laughter as the parents comforted their child from a night terror- _a nightmare, no more. _

Jack couldn't take his eyes off the scene.

"This is where the guardians fail, Jack." The boy didn't look away from the window, but he felt the nightmare king coming closer to the house, "They think of me as an embodiment of fear, just for the sake of fear. But really, if you actually looked, you'd see that children need a little fear, to really appreciate the world around them."

The little girl was being tucked back into bed, safe and sound.

"Think of how dull their lives would be, if everything was nice and wonderful all of the time." Pitch continued, sighing lightly, " They'd grow bored so fast. A little fear gives them a thrill, makes everything seem exciting again."

Lights were put out, doors closed. The little girl was smiling, happy, all the more eager for a good dream.

"There- don't you see how happy she is now?" Pitch pointed vaguely at the girl, new dream sand forming above her closed eyes. Jack finally looked to the man, and found him staring pensively into the room, and for that moment- everything seemed serene, "The fear shows them their doubts, and helps them squash them. If they ever feel alone, I help them realize that they're not."

His yellow eyes turned back to Jack, "I help _everyone _realize they're not alone."

It made sense, it made _painful _sense. And the longer he spent looking into those piercing eyes, the dimmer and more distant the _wrong _feeling became. Because it was true- he _wasn't _alone anymore.

There was that subtle pressure, somewhere deep in his chest. His thoughts _pushing _and _pushing _until- something- small, buried deep- _snapped._

Pitch's grin was sympathetic, if not a just a little too knowing.

Something squeaked out of him before he could stop it, "Do you mind if I try something?"

Jack almost punched himself for the slip when the nightmare king shot him a questioning look, "That depends."

He laughed nervously- he was doing a lot of that, lately, "Alright... just, bare with me for a second."

Slowly, as if not to startle him, Jack set his staff down in grass. Jack turned to take a step forward, but paused. A stream of "_Dear god, what am I doing?" _practically tap danced through his head. Pitch was still staring at him quizzically.

He took a deep breath. Slowly, he inched forward until he was within arms length of the man. His arms raised hesitantly, and he reminded himself briefly of a robot trying to pick up a box.

He dusted the thought from his mind with a scowl- this was awkward enough already, imagination. _Thank you._

Jack leaned forward on his toes, like he wanted to fall over. His hands inched and inched until his fingertips were just about to brush the other's shoulders. However, catching the semi-patient, semi-blank look in Pitch's eyes, he shrunk back.

"No, no." He mumbled, "This isn't going to work."

Rolling on his heels, he quickly shuffled over to Pitch's side, the man's gaze following the winter spirit out of the corner of his eye. When he settled, Jack was face to face with Pitch's shoulder. One of Jack's arms tried to creep up around the other's front, but he decided halfway through that that was wrong too. He tried the other arm, attempting to circle around the shoulders in front of him.

He had to reach up obscenely high to do so.

Another option- out.

Jack started reaching around the arm nearest his face- but then he thought of how resorting to hugging a single arm made him feel small, clingy, and pathetic all at the same time.

He reasoned that a side hug was not the way to go, either.

The silverette continued his little circle around. He didn't even bother stopping at the back, with Pitch glancing over his shoulder and having to stare up and up at the wide range of black. Then he was at the left side, which wasn't any different than the right side, and thus, didn't help him at all.

He was back at the front before he knew it, a slightly defeated pout adorning his face.

"Ok, one more try." Jack spread his arms out, looking for all the world like he was about to jump off a cliff, flapping his arms about in an attempt to fly, "Don't... be alarmed by this."

He closed his eyes, bolted them shut the way one would lock out the sight of one's death.

Then, he fell.

Vaguely, he was aware that his arms were wrapped around Pitch's middle, the white tuffs of his hair tucked under a slender chin. He didn't want to think about, though. He couldn't think about it, really, as he found himself lost in the long forgotten feeling of _secure, warm, _and _thank you. _

After a brief, surprised intake from both the boy, and the victim of his hug, Jack was half shocked, half relieved to feel a pair of arms circle his shoulders.

For a moment, the night was completely still.

And if Pitch's hands gripped his shoulders just a little too tightly, then he paid it no mind.

And if the shadows curled possessively around his wrists, when the nightmare king led them off into the darkness, neither of them mentioned it.

* * *

"_Jack. Jack? Jack!"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_You've been 'hugging' me for past half hour."_

"_Hmm."_

"_... Are you going to let go now?"_

"_... Hmph."_

"..."

* * *

**Explanation time!**

**Ok, so this is chapter is REALLY late for a slew of reasons I'm sure you're all not interested in hearing. So I'll just say it has to do with the holidays, and school, and life. XD I'm sorry about the delay, and it definitely made me rush to get this out, so this chapter is obvious a little out of whack. Promises to a better chapter next week! **

**With that out of the way: HOLY SMOKES. 83 follows- over 60 favorites, you guys are AMAZING. It's awesome to know that there's people actually enjoying this little train wreck of mine. XD With that- I'd like to thank the people that reviewed: **

**Letizia-chan, Tsurai no Shi, myrddin767, isthisparadise, thunder angel13, Firekat Archer, ztanita, darkangel325, The Bloodless, The White Grim, Product Of A Sick Society, Reid Phantom, blackkyu, and vistor Auggie- Thank you all SO MUCH for your reviews! They really keep me going- it's like brain food! :) **

**So to all the rest of you- thank you for reading! Leave a review if you want me to have ammo for my ever-fighting war against Writer's Block! **

**And, once again, sorry for the seriousness. I tried to add some humor- but my mind kept saying "_No! It must be serious!" _So, yeah. The goofiness and humor will be back full swing next chapter, if you're here for that. 3**


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